One thing the Montreal Canadiens haven’t had much of lately is scoring depth.

Injuries and ineffective players left them top heavy up front last season.

Shut down their top line of Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Erik Cole and opponents were a long way towards beating the Habs, which happened often last season on the way to a last place finish in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens showed signs of remedying that problem this season in their 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre on Saturday.

Pacioretty is out of the lineup after having an appendectomy Sunday and Desharnais and Cole are off to slow starts, so the Canadiens need others to supply some offence.

Desharnais and Lars Eller, who has come out of coach Michel Therrien’s doghouse to take Pacioretty’s spot, scored their first goals of the season (Desharnais added a power-play goal in the third) and Rene Bourque, who had surgery in the off-season for a sports hernia, had a pair of goals. Bourque also drew a couple of penalties and scored on the first power play to open the scoring with eight seconds left in the first period.

Bourque’s good play, along with that of captain Brian Gionta (who missed the last half of last season with a torn bicep muscle) and centre Tomas Plekanec, has given the Canadiens an effective second line, something they didn’t have last year.

“Having Gio there helps a lot,” said Bourque. “I think as a group we’re breaking out of our zone with speed and getting pucks wide, using our speed to get to the net. We’re getting into the garbage areas and getting a lot of those goals right in front of the net.

“I just feel better, more comfortable. Healthy,” said Bourque of his own performance. “I want to prove myself as a good player. I never doubted myself even though I had a tough time when I came over from Calgary. In the back of my mind over the summer, I just wanted to focus on having a good season and making a difference on this team.”

Then there were the kids, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk, who have been giving the Habs good minutes on the third line. Gallagher scored his third of the season to make it 2-0 with Galchenyuk drawing his first of two assists of the afternoon (Galchenyuk was also stopped on a breakaway in the third by Sabres goaltender Jhonas Enroth, who replaced starter Ryan Miller).

It all added up to a convincing win for the Canadiens on the front end of their annual Super Bowl weekend set of back-to-back matniee games (the Ottawa Senators visit Montreal on Sunday).

The Canadiens are now 5-2 on the season while the Sabres, who were coming off a solid win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday, slipped to 3-4-1.

The game marked the return of Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban, who signed a two-year, $5.75 million contract Monday after sitting out training camp and the beginning of the Habs’ season.

His first presence was greeted with a mixture of cheers and boos by the fans in the Bell Centre with the cheers winning out.

Subban had only one practice with his teammates before going into the lineup and Canadiens coach Michel Therrien opted to dress seven defencemen. Subban picked up the second assist on Desharnais’ second goal of the game in the third.

“I thought our team played extremely well. We had a good start. When you’re playing your first game and your team has a good start, it’s sort of a relief,” said Subban. “It’s easier to handle the puck and all that stuff.”

Subban looked like he was in pretty good shape after skating with the Ontairo Hockey League’s Mississauga Steelheads for the last couple of weeks.

“We skated hard,” said Subban, adding the Steelheads have had their struggles lately. “There were a few bag skates.”

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Canadiens pummel Sabres 6-1

P.K. Subban gets assist in return to lineup

One thing the Montreal Canadiens haven’t had much of lately is scoring depth.

Injuries and ineffective players left them top heavy up front last season.

Shut down their top line of Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Erik Cole and opponents were a long way towards beating the Habs, which happened often last season on the way to a last place finish in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens showed signs of remedying that problem this season in their 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre on Saturday.

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There wasn't much left of Daniel Briere's voice. The veteran Montreal Canadiens forward had been turned into a cheerleader, sitting on the Canadiens bench for most of the third period of their Game 7 victory over the Boston Bruins, cooling his heels despite having set up the crucial first goal two minutes into the game.